It's really only been the last year that the boys have started to be a little destructive around here. Not really even destructive so much as hurricane-like. They are home 10 minutes from school and the living room is covered in shoes, toy guns and throw pillows. How did that happen so fast? It's definitely been a test in patience for me, and in balance. Yes, I like the blankets folded, but perhaps I can put up with them in piles on the floor until the end of the day when we put everything back where it belongs. Or sure, it's nice to have sand actually in the sandbox, but it's really not hurting anything piled up at the end of the slide.
Lately I've been a little less than short on patience and a huge failure in the balance department. The Mary and Martha story has been popping up in my head. You know, the one where Jesus comes to have dinner at their house and Martha complains because Mary isn't helping and Jesus tells her to chill because Mary's chosen better.
"Martha, Martha, the Lord answered, you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken from her." Luke 10:41
I hate the Mary and Martha story.
I feel like Martha gets a bad rap. What were they going to eat if Martha didn't cook something? Well, I guess it was Jesus. He probably could have whipped up some fish and bread. And wine!!!
But in all seriousness, I don't think it was cooking and cleaning that got Martha into trouble and, as someone who takes pride in her own home, I'd like to set the record straight. It's not the cooking and cleaning that get you. It's the lack of joy that goes into it.
Being raised in the south, hospitality is an art form and a gift. I have been in many homes where the food is cooked, the table is decorated and the bathrooms are clean. And I've felt as welcome and relaxed as in my own home. It's the feeling of being truly welcomed, like all the effort to prepare the house and feed you meant nothing compared to the joy of having you there. I don't think it mattered that Martha was cooking and cleaning and Mary was not. I think it was that Martha's spirit was devoid of the joy that should have accompanied a guest such as Jesus in her home.
So I look around my own house and I make a new deal with myself. If I cannot cook and cannot clean and cannot organize, decorate and renovate without a little joy in my heart then I shall not do it at all. My husband works hard. I will not groan to make sure he has clean towels. My boys will only be little for so long. I will not scream for the toys that ensure their childhood remains in tact as it should. After all, Jesus isn't only a guest in our home. He lives here, too. And what else but joy can I have for that?
"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."
1 Thessalonians 5:16
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